Naidu pushes for intra-regional trade via value chain approach

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu today said that adopting the regional value chain approach could be an appropriate model for India to foster intra-regional trade. "Although India has a lot of trading agreements, both regional and bilateral, the country is yet to fully capitalise on the existing synergies in its Regional Trading Agreements. "An example is the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) as the South Asian region is the least integrated among all the regions in the world," he said here. "Adopting the regional value chain approach could be an appropriate model to foster intra-regional trade by deepening regional processes," Naidu said. The vice-president said domestic firms should find ways to achieve higher exports. "Indian companies need to identify segments of global value chains with higher value addition and low entry barriers in global markets to achieve higher exports in the short term," he noted. Naidu was addressing a gathering of trade ministers of various countries, business heads and delegates after inaugurating the Partnership Summit 2018 this afternoon. Noting that the global economy was showing signs of pick-up after a prolonged phase of slowdown, Naidu, however, said the projected rates for global expansion were much below pre-crisis averages, especially for the advanced economies as well as commodity-exporting countries. "Already there are calls for protectionism from the advanced economies which, when implemented, could mean restrictive policies for cross-border trade and investment flows.

This could bring attendant repercussions which might undermine the nascent signs of growth revival," he added. Speaking about Indian micro, small and medium enterprises, Naidu said connecting them to global value chains was critical. "Access to technology and internet can be a major factor to allow SMEs to integrate with the global market. E-trade allows SMES to reach out to new export avenues and access to low-cost imported inputs". Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee, CII chairperson Sobhana Kamineni and Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, among others, were present on the occasion.

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